Facing Baskin Robbins draft board, do you trust LA Rams to make the right selection?
By Bret Stuter
The LA Rams draft selection team has to be pinching themselves today, don't they? The Rams list of needs is not complicated at all. This team needs just about every position played in the NFL. In some cases, the team needs multiple players at the same position. After paring down the roster to less than half of the number needed to participate in their training camp at full strength, there were plenty of questions and all too few answers.
Well, in a few hours, the LA Rams draft will deliver some answers. First and foremost, which of the talented prospects on the LA Rams Big Board will hear their names called by the Rams on Day 2?
As hoped for, the lack of consensus elite talent in this draft created a wave of trades in Round 1, as NFL teams jockeyed for position to claim the dozen to 20 rookie prospects who were graded as Round 1 worthy talents. After that, the diversity of 32 NFL teams with 32 different 2023 NFL Draft boards began to shine through. Teams began to jump down to later graded prospects in Round 1. And with each reach, the LA Rams first pick at the 36th overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft is beginning to appear quite valuable.
We pointed out some keys for Day 1 that could impact the Rams' draft on Day 2. What were those questions and why were they important to the Rams can be found in the table of links below:
- More than 4 QBs selected on Day 1?
- More than 2 RBs selected on Day 1?
- How many TEs were selected on Day 1?
- When was OT Paris Johnson Jr. selected?
- How many WRs were chosen on Day 1?
The LA Rams have a lot of incredibly talented players still on the board. But do they have a clear group of players and a hierarchy that allows them to know instantly who to choose? Or is the presence of seven of NFL.com's Top-20 still on the draft board so prolific that the Rams will be paralyzed with options? In short, do the LA Rams face too many choices, like a six-year-old child trying to make a selection at the Baskin Robbins ice cream counter?
Need a tight end? Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer and Oregon State TE Luke Musgrave are still on the board. What about defensives back? Alabama CB Brian Branch, Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr, and Michigan CB D.J. Turner II are still on the board.
What about the best in slot prospects? The best offensive center in this draft, Minnesota OC John Michael Schmitz, is still available. The best offensive guard in this draft, Florida OG O'Cyrus Torrence, is still on the board. The best linebacker on many draft boards, Arkansas LB Drew Sanders, is waiting to hear his name called. No safety has been selected yet.
Even two quarterbacks who many had Round 1 grades written all over them, Kentucky QB Will Levis and Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, are still available. Can the LA Rams go wrong with so much talent still there? Or does this have a very familiar 'feel,' to it, like the 2021 NFL Draft when the LA Rams opted to select WR Tutu Atwell with the 57th overall pick, while OC Creed Humphrey was still on the board?
Yeah, I'm a bit nervous too.